The Cole Digest, September 13, 1995

Last week we began a discussion of World Wide Web servers and talked about publishers using Web services from Internet access providers (we weren't thrilled).

Now we're talking about "co-location," or a publisher contracting with an Internet access provider to have the publisher's computer on-site at the access provider's computer room.

An advantage of co-location is that the server will be running at the network speed available to the access provider. If the access provider has a T1 connection to the Internet, then the server will run at T1 speeds (1.54 megabits per second). If the provider has T3, then the server runs at 45 megabits per second.

The price for co-location usually runs between $100 and $200 a month, which is far less than the cost of a dedicated line running at 56 kilobits per second (a recent estimate for a 56 kbps dedicated line came out to $7000 for the first year, which includes hardware, phone company line charges and access provider charges).

The downside of co-location, of course, is that you have to administer the Web server remotely. Using the file transfer protocol (FTP), you can move files over the Internet to your Web server (provided your Web server is also running FTP server software or your access provider can make your machine's disk part of its FTP system). This allows you to bring in all your text and pictures to the server without actually having to sit in front of the machine.

Those who elect to use a Macintosh as a Web server can use AppleTalk Remote Access (ARA) to connect to the server (this would mean your access provider would also have to give you a dial-up phone line for your exclusive use and this would undoubtedly cost more). The benefits of ARA include the ability to remove outdated files and do general machine disk maintenance.

For more sophisticated Macintosh maintenance, many Web administrators who have Macs in co-location use Timbuktu Pro (Farallon Computing Inc., Alameda, Calif., http://www.farallon.com) because it will run over the Internet. Timbuktu Pro creates a "screen-within-a-screen," giving you access to all the functions of the remote Macintosh, including rebooting. The problem with Timbuktu Pro is that if your connection to the Internet is a typical 14.4 kpbs dial-up connection, the screen redraw and mouse movements on the remote screen can be painfully slow.

For a newspaper or magazine publisher, having the Web server on-site can be the most beneficial of all the approaches. It means that publishing executives can have constant access to the computer; it means they can change content rapidly and easily; it means they can use the hardware and software they want and not necessarily the products with which their Internet access provider is familiar.

An in-house Web server can also provide immediate feedback about the workings of the Web and the server itself. As I am writing this, I have noticed that in the last hour there have been no accesses of my Web site. Despite the low number of "hits" I get in a day, this is unusual. A little poking around and I find that I can access servers here in San Francisco, but not outside the state. A phone call to the Internet access provider reveals that the main Internet "backbone" connection is down.

With an Internet service provider's Web services or co-location, I would have only read a log tomorrow that showed a lack of activity today and I'd never know why (Did the server crash? Was no one really interested in my site?). Because I saw the problem now and inquired, I won't have to worry.

Onward.

\dmc

[THE COLE DIGEST is written by consultant David M. Cole, editor and publisher of the industry newsletter THE COLE PAPERS. The DIGEST is made available to PressLink subscribers every Wednesday at no extra charge. Send comments by e-mail to cole@plink.geis.com. The COLE DIGEST is the property of The Cole Group, a California sole proprietorship. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of The Cole Group is prohibited. Copyright (C) 1995, The Cole Group. Opinions expressed are those of The Cole Group, unless otherwise noted.

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